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The move allowed Stratasys wider scope to expand its services business, and now the acquisition of Interfacial solutions will potentially improve the company's supply chain operations and speed up product development.

Wisconsin-based Interfacial Solutions is a provider of thermoplastics R&D and production services. The company has been a major production partner for Stratasys' FDM product lines over the past three years, and has also been involved in Stratasys' R&D concerning thermoplastic materials.

"Interfacial Solutions provides significant expertise in plastics and filament. We believe its knowledgeable team and experience will accelerate Stratasys' materials development efforts for all of our FDM platforms, including MakerBot.

The acquisition is expected to accomplish three objectives for Stratasys, which include strengthening our materials R&D skills and bandwidth; enabling us to become vertically integrated in material development and manufacturing; and increasing materials production space and capacity. Overall, we expect to accelerate new materials development, allowing us to introduce new products to the market faster."

Such an asset purchase seems like a natural fit for Stratasys, considering its latest acquisition spree is focused on growth. In Q4, Stratasys reported a net loss of $2 million, or 4 cents a share, on revenue of $155.1 million. Within the quarter, the company spent almost 10 percent of revenue on research and development.

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